A study of black issues in Counsellor training 2002

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Mavinga, Isha, 2005.

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A Space to contemplate

A STUDY OF BLACK ISSUES IN

COUNSELLOR TRAINING

By Isha Mckenzie-Mavinga

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Abstract

Over the last two decades interest in multicultural dimensions of therapeutic practice has increased, reflecting political and social change, so that it is no longer confined to the page. However, the responses of some black counsellors and clients indicate that what has been and continues to be produced in transcultural literature has not sufficiently transferred into practice. This suggests a gap in counsellor training.

At the heart of the gap is the research question. How do trainee counsellors in Britain understand concerns about black issues, raised by themselves during their training or about clients during the therapeutic process?

Increasing diversity in student populations has paralleled legislative demands to provide services for the wider multicultural population. This raises a further question of whether training that fails to address the dynamics of racism, and experiences that relate to black peoples' is inadequate.

Developments in social policy are a necessity for creating frameworks to address power structures that maintain marginalised voices. The Race Relations Act 1976 (Amended Act 2000) now gives public authorities including Higher Education, a

'statutory general duty to promote race equality '. (eRE. 2002). The Act suggests that 'we' as a community of practitioners are responsible for change in the educational process. In view of this responsibility this study shows the challenges of enabling and empowering trainees to discover the voice of change within their training experience.

The study is based on evidence that counsellors training in a variety of settings had not received sufficient input to support the experiences of black people either in training or counselling settings. In addition, today's trainees have been asking

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questions about how to actively engage with black issues in the role of counsellor. To address this problem the study places counsellor training in Higher Education under the spotlight. It invites the organisation to be active in equal opportunities and combines qualitative with multicultural action research and practice at the source of counselling. Elements of these research paradigms supported the transformative and emancipatory nature of the study. However, a flexible approach to their use allowed for the diversity issues embroiled within the context ofthis study. This supported awareness of the ethical implications of 'epistemological power' and

'epistemological racism'.

Drawing on a pluralistic approach, the heuristic process of understanding trainee counsellors' relationship with the phenomenon of black issues was explored during training workshops. The study gave voice to trainee counsellors' concerns. It encouraged dialogue about relationships as black people, or with black peoples, that link to the therapeutic process.

The researcher's role as black facilitator, tutor, researcher and 'insider outsider' played an important part in both the challenging nature of this study and a model for developing safety and compassion to facilitate the process.

Interviews with five established counsellors trained at different points over a twenty year period showed that black issues was a missing element in their training courses. Primary data was collected from the shared concerns of a group of fifty students on three different counsellor training courses. Trainees from one of the courses were followed through into year two of their training. They were offered additional workshops and encouraged to address black issues within assessment criteria of their training. The impact of black issues in their training was shared at verbal evaluation meetings outside of course time. Trainees' narratives made a significant contribution to the primary data collection.

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Findings demonstrated that themes such as fear and safety were features of trainees' process of exploring and understanding black issues. Three main concepts evolved. These are called 'shared concerns', 'finding a voice' and 'recognition trauma'. The study showed that sharing concerns assisted trainees to find a voice where previously they felt silenced. Their narrative demonstrated that they were keen to find ways of opening a dialogue about black issues, but needed safety to unravel the sticky and often emotional impact of racism. Themes which emerged from the process were those of racism, guilt, history and trust. Reflexive representation of trainees' voices through the data showed that concerns about racism featured highly in their interacti ons.

The outcome demonstrated that firstly space for sharing and exploration in training can model greater confidence in dialogue about black issues in client work. Secondly, the different experiences of black and white trainees must be valued. Thirdly, understanding can be supported by modelling the process and dialogue on black issues. Fourthly, to support the emancipatory and transformative process of the training group the trainer's personal development process must include an understanding of racism and knowledge of black issues.

This document reflects creativity in both methodology and presentation. It allows theory to compliment practice and practice to develop counselling and research theory. It may be seen as similar to the reflexive experience of integrative counselling. With this in mind, the reader is invited to share a narrative journey from fear to transformation.

A list of salient points that were considered when developing the methodology are presented on page 5.

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Acknowledgements

I give thanks to the Almighty for providing the opportunity,

space and resources that made this study possible. I thank my

ancestors for guiding me through this challenging and

innovative journey.

I offer my sincere gratitude to the individuals and organisations,

brothers, sisters, friends, co-counsellors and my therapist who

have supported and encouraged me throughout this project.

Particular thanks to the universities, students, colleagues and

participants on the counsellor training courses involved, and

also to the artists whose images inspired and encouraged me

and provided opportunities to include the voices and

experiences of black men.

Special thanks to Dr Jennifer Elton Wilson, Dr Agnes Bryn, Dr

Harbrinder Dillon-Stevens, Dr Kate Maguire, Dr Duncan

Lawrence, Dr Tele Amuludun, Dr Nicky Thomas, Dr Kathy

Raffles, Dr Aileen Aleyne, Dr Val Watson, Dr Bisi Kioki,

Elsbeth Scwenk, Olivia Lusada, Christine Smith, Hugh Clarke,

Paula Collens, Jane Stavert, Alice Cook, Hyacinth Fraser,

Wendy Francis, Anita McKenzie, Vema Scarlett, George Kelly,

Arike, Ramesh Talwar, Aneela Ferdinand, Val Blomfield.

BACP, Caroline Ravello

&

the Trinidad Guardian, Ozcar

&

Vicky, Tish Pritchard Debbie Wolfe, Sylvia Green, Jassy

Dennison, who shared and supported the journey.

Appreciation for my children especially Andrea and Aaron for

their patience, support and loving contributions.

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Introduction

Salient Points

oetlnltlon of black issues

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Introduction

A Space to Contemplate

Just so ...

In the quiet way that time plays on tiles Its archaic lace imprisons space Takes us in

Lets us no further than its eyelids To wait a little more

To wait, I say,

For horizons at our feet But wait if you want!

But wait if you want

Habit has a history of nursing wounds Their spears dulled

Displayed

Slaves adapt privilege granted To caress it long enough Their own

A freedom Independence.

Only light like time A resolute

Burning with the will of dawn Must rent the bush

Turn each wing

With aching pace Softening each boulder

With the patience of snails. LeRoy Clarke, (1981, P.25)

LeRoy Clarke, author of the above poem, a Trinidadian artist and poet, represents a working through of the impact of slavery and colonisation in gigantic landscaped images combining past and present. His multi-coloured landscape of mind, body and soul invites spectators to observe, listen to their responses and engage with a 'space to contemplate'. The poem depicts the pace, patience and humility that has been required to journey through this doctoral project. In the spirit of 'a space to contemplate', I present my research topic of 'black issues'.

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Figure 1 below shows the various stages of the study.

Fl - Overview of Study

WHAT ARE BLACK ISSUES?

• Any concerns raised by or about people of colour; and their lives, history and cultural experiences including the impact of racism

1

WHY ARE BLACK ISSUES IMPORTANT IN COUNSELLING & PSYCHOTHERAPY?

• CRE Guidelines - 'The Race Relations Act 1976 (Amendment Act 2000)'

• 'Higher Educational Institution's General Duty' • 'To limit unlawful discrimination'

• 'To promote equality & good race relations'

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How can this be done?

• Research-• Training -• Practice

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- - - , Participatory Action Research Methodology

• Qualitative -Multicultural paradigm • Pluralistic-flexible

Philosophical context Research components

• Transcultural / . Heuristic, grounded theory,-• Emancipatory phenomenology, narrative • Historical, sociological

• Interpretive interactionism • Feminism

Resources

• Self funded

•

Doctoral peers & colleagues

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Signatories, Academic consultant,

Advisor

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Level 5 capabilities

Data Collection

• Interviews

• Impact of workshops (Evaluation) • Trainees' questions

• Verbal evaluation (Narrative) • JOlIDlal eAiracls

• Colleagues' feedback

Products

• Several published papers • Trainers booklet • Book publishing contract

Method

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• Black issues workshops

Practitioners' & trainees' concerns Use of art & creativity

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Integrative training progranune

Study Group

Experienced practitioners • Trainee counsellors

• },I year trainees on 3 courses

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& 2nd year trainees at Uni-one

Outcome

• Modelling black issues in training • Development of practice

• Finding a voice (The impact of racism)

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This document presents a heuristic journey using a combined qualitative and multicultural research paradigm with a pluralistic, flexible, participatory action approach. The rationale for this approach will be addressed in my methodology. In West Africa there is a symbol of a bird called 'Sankofa' that is looking backwards (Front cover). This symbol reminds Africans to look back at their history to know where they are going in the future. This study begins like the Sankofa, with the narrative of experienced counsellors looking back at their training. They evidence the need for action research and the inclusion of black issues in counsellor training. I then explored trainees' concerns, and with the support of colleagues, developed a workshop programme which introduced the theme of black issues as a phenomenon into the training.

I have named the gesture of listening to practitioners' and trainees' voices the principle of 'shared concerns'. IThis principle brings together experiences of the phenomenon. Drawing together many voices into one voice, a collective acknowledgement of an action or omission in time and history that impacts the present. Responses to the phenomenon are portrayed through the various modes of gathering data supported by elements of grounded theory in a reflective, reciprocal process.

The document will summarise the outcome of the study and demonstrate how this influenced my practice, the training process, and the wider field. This document also demonstrates how information was gathered for the products of this study, which culminated in several papers, a training booklet and a book contract to influence the wider field. The document will be interspersed with examples of art forms and creativity that supported the training workshops and my personal development process. Evidence of insights gained from specialist seminars are woven into the process of the study and summarised in chapter 5. Due to limitations in the size of

1 My use of the concept of shared concerns evolved from a previous study, that examined whether there might be a cathartic process in the shared expression of experiences on a similar theme. The study focussed on similar issues that were being shared by black women through their creative writing. Mckenzie-Mavinga, (1997).

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this presentation significant supportive material and examples will be placed in the appendices.

Definition of black Issues

The concept of 'black' refers to people of colour of African and Asian heritage. In Britain the term 'black' when used by black peoples is mainly to affirm African heritage peoples and more generally used in an affirming and unifying way to refer to people of colour. However the term 'people of colour' is mainly used in the United States; therefore, for the purpose of this study, I shall use the term black. I am aware that black people are not one homogeneous group just as white people are not one homogeneous group, hence my reason for using the plural 'peoples'. I am also aware that grouping may increase the potential for stereotyping.

In their book on 'The Racism of Psychology', Howitt & Owusu-Bempa (1994) view the term 'black' as a generic politicised description with historical problems. One of the problems was the varied use of the term 'black'. They suggest that in some situations the term may de-contextualise settings by identifying and unifying large groups of people in terms of their shared experiences of social disadvantage in predominantly white settings. They go on to say that:

One problem is that the description merely reproduces and fixes in language the disparity in power between the 'haves' and 'have nots' in terms ofmajorities and minorities. (P.14)

Hasn't this been the way that history over time has situated the term black, at first in its negative form and more recently as an element of emancipation? The term 'black' is a political and sociological term identifying a group that have been most vulnerable to the oppression of racism in the west. This group as the most visible minority have been least likely to be represented in the field of psychotherapy and

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counselling.2 It is widely acknowledged that African heritage peoples are six times more likely to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act than white peoples. Asian peoples are four times more likely to commit suicide than white peoples. Foundation News, (November 2003). These are important factors that must not be ignored. Psychotherapy and counselling provision that not only takes into account but also works with black issues may increase resources for those at risk of the mental health system. The risk of sectioning and suicide among the above-mentioned groups may therefore be reduced.

What are black Issues?

I have linked the word 'issues' to the term 'black' to enable a phenomenological outlook rather than a focus on black peoples per se. In this sense the term 'black' was placed at the centre of the study and responses to it examined. In taking this approach in training I am proposing that the term 'black' be used in an emancipatory way. My hope for this study was that this might broaden understanding of the experiences of both black and white people in relation to black people. More often than not individuals take for granted that a use of the term 'black' means a focus on the discourse of racism, or that 'black issues' means focussing solely on the experiences of black people. The aim of this study was to explore how understanding developed from the ontological experience of black issues in training; therefore 'issues' in this context refers to any concern, problem, dynamic, feeling or experience raised by or about black people, by themselves or by white people. Whilst this may appear to be a broad definition it allows for the relationships, personal development and theoretical context of experiences to be discussed in a phenomenological sense. The document will present a model of how black issues can be experienced as a phenomenon of counsellor training.

2 The term 'black' is a self-ascribed, political term stating allegiance with those who have experienced

oppression because of their skin colour. It is important not to assume that trainees from black and minority ethnic backgrounds will be familiar with or agree with, or use, any of the commonly used terms referring to ethnic identity. Patel, N. et. aI., (2000, p.34)

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A Model of Integrating black Issues into Counsellor Training

Embarking on a study that asks a question about black issues was an attempt to understand what it is like to be a black person as client or practitioner in psychotherapy and counselling in Britain. It was also an attempt to find out how relationships with and between black people are explored in the therapeutic process by both black and white counsellors. The study will also contribute to the wisdom and knowledge of transcultural counsellor training. This document shows how the study has encouraged both black and white trainee counsellors to use their multicultural experiences of diversity, similarity and ways of being, to explore, engage with and gain greater clarity of their relationships with black peoples. The study is about the process of understanding black issues, and how that process comes about during the course of counsellor training.

Training is a process that influences learning and should assist trainees to find a common understanding of theory and practice. The theme of 'understanding' features highly in the training curriculum, therefore I believe that the concept of understanding has been an important feature in the study. This document shows how participants and colleagues as collaborators give voice to their concerns and understanding about black issues.

The research journey has made me consider my own motivation to 'understand' and consider how understanding comes about. It has challenged me to step back in the role of expert and locate my compassion for learners in a far more meaningful way than in my role as counsellor trainer. Being one step ahead at the beginning of this study and having to adapt my pace has furthered my learning process in relation to the particular theme of black issues. I had expected to introduce elements of black history expressed through art as a means of understanding. However, I found that white participants needed clarity about the meaning of black issues and black participants needed a space to share their experiences. This process led to the re-negotiation of the research theme, which was originally 'linking history to black issues in the therapeutic process' . The changes occurred in order to meet

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participants' ethical need to understand what black issues actually meant in the context of their ethnic and cultural background and their training as counsellors. (See DI).

Dl Putting the Pieces Together

Putting The Pieces Together

Blue: Initial approach linking history to explore black issues through workshops.

Green: Renegotiation of research question, realising trainees needed to find a voice.

A need for black trainees to share experiences and be heard. (Issues of racism).

\ \ hi (' White trainees wanted to understand and explore the meaning of black issues. The whole l>icture: Links between compassion, ethical facilitation of dialogue and creating data from shared concerns and the process of understanding.

A Study of black Issues in Counsellor Training 2002 - 2005 Isha Mckenzie-Mavinga

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Background

My personal interest in this topic comes from the lack of input on black issues in my own training as a counsellor and also the lack of dialogue about black issues in the institutions of my life. As a woman of African Caribbean and European heritage, my personal journey began with the experience of being in the minority as a black child in a children's home where I was raised. My black identity was either idealised or discussed in negative terms. I had no input from my African Caribbean father who died soon after I was born, or from my European Jewish mother and I was isolated from the experiences of other black people until I went to a secondary school for girls. There I became familiar with the culture, languages and family issues of school friends who had arrived from the Caribbean, during the 50s and 60s, the post 'Windrush'period3• There was very little in the school curriculum to affirm our

experiences as girls or black people and we suffered overt racial abuse from teachers and other pupils. These experiences created a cultural bond between us as victims of institutional racism.4 Although I gathered information about my African Caribbean identity from my peers I left school with no interest in furthering my education.

This attitude changed in my early thirties, when I ended my marriage and emolled for a degree course. A new phase of learning opened my curiosity about black history and my African heritage. I discovered that the richness of Africa's heritage was being excluded from the Social Science studies that I had embarked on and I was being denied another opportunity to include parts of my ancestral history. Until this point I had been accepting the silencing of my cultural heritage. I became aware of my personal silence and inability to articulate a need to discover and understand my black identity and African Caribbean heritage.

3 During this period there was an influx of immigrants who travelled to Britain from the Caribbean islands, some travelled on a ship named the 'Empire Windrush', 1948.

4 Tuckwe1l. (2002) describes institutional racism as consisting of established laws, customs and practices that unfairly restrict the opportunities of defined groups of people, whether or not the individuals maintaining these practices have racist intentions. (p.17).

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The Influence of Literature

The philosophical context of this study is influenced by my ongoing discovery of African American and African Caribbean writing about black issues. The discovery of bell hook's5writing helped me to understand key elements in my personal journey to multiculturalism. This curiosity led me to a personal journey into my own heritage.

hooks (1994(c) suggests that:

'If we examine critically the traditional role of the university in the

pursuit of truth and the sharing of knowledge and information, it is painfully clear that biases that uphold and maintain white supremacy, imperialism, sexism and racism have distorted education so that it is no longer about the practice offreedom '. (P.29)

In pursuit of both freedom and truth the personal journey mentioned above was my first research project. Accompanied by an older sister we researched our father's background and discovered our previously unknown Trinidadian family. This project culminated in a published book called. 'In Search of Mr McKenzie'. Mckenzie-Mavinga & Perkins (1991a). Finding my black family helped me to feel more whole and develop greater confidence in my identity. The experience filled a gap in my cultural knowledge of the family. I view the family as an institution that constitutes an essential element in the development of most people's lives, whether they have been raised within a family situation or not.

My confidence continued to grow from the experience of visiting my other home and family in Trinidad and becoming a published writer. I gained a sense of community and I became aware that I have a voice. I continued to write poetry and read my work in front of audiences. Creative writing became a great source of expression for my

5 Please note that hooks uses lower case in her given name as in the use of lower case for the term black.

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voice on black issues and identity development. I became influenced by the feminist movement and the writings of African American females such as hooks (1992b), Lorde (1985), Angellou (1986), and Walker (1983). They wrote about their lives as black females. I drew great strength from the sharing of their life stories and their experiences of liberation from institutional and personal oppression. I identified with parts of their stories and our shared stories became one. The experience empowered me and gave me a sense of knowing and identity that previously I had been unable to acknowledge. My books acted very much in the role of a reflective practitioner affirming the unacknowledged parts of my history, heritage and womanhood.

I discovered my skills as a listener during a period as a youth worker, listening to the stories of young black men from behind the coffee bar. Counsellor training offered me theories to support my listening skills and understand the context of a listening relationship, but it did not support the experience of being a black client or counsellor. These experiences led to my decision to create situations that enabled counsellors to discuss black issues and racism in their training and practice.

Knowledge

My literary appetite broadened and I began to explore the works of black British African and Caribbean writers many whom I have been fortunate to meet in person. They have all encouraged me to continue to develop my writing as a form of sharing and healing.

This experience gave voice to my skills as a researcher and facilitator of creative writing as a therapeutic aid. In my frustration with institutional racism I turned to the writing of black sociological and psychological writers such as Gilroy (1990), Fanon (1986), Ackbar (1996), and Wilson (1993). Their work encouraged me to channel my teaching into challenging oppression, and supporting change in attitudes that excluded the experiences of black peoples, particularly black men. Fanon (1986) exemplified this when he wrote,

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Ontology-once it is finally admitted as leaving existence by the wayside-does not permit us to understand the being of the black man. For not only must the black man be black; he must be black in relation to the white man. (P.ll 0)

I have witnessed these missing elements mentioned by Fanon, in counsellor training, in higher education, in the supervision of client work and in a sense in my own limitations as a black tutor. I felt limited by white eurocentric domination of theoretical approaches to psychotherapy and counselling. My isolation as a black tutor kept me drifting voiceless on the margins of training institutions. I remained in that place for fourteen years as a visiting tutor, offering token transcultural workshops before deciding to play an active role in change. I now work as a counsellor trainer in Higher Education and see that I can play an important role in changing the status quo.

Developments in the social policy of race and culture coincided with my maturing psychology, self-understanding as a black woman, and wish for change. In hook's words:

Moving away from the need for immediate affirmation was crucial to my growth as a teacher. I learned to respect that shifting paradigms or sharing knowledge in new ways challenges; it takes time for students to experience that challenge is positive. Students taught me, too, that it is necessary to practice compassion in these new learning settings. hooks, (1994, p.42)

A Practice Based Study

A practice base that I was already familiar with and had easy access to was selected. This was three training courses at three different colleges that I had already been involved with. For the purpose of this study, I have named these courses Uni-one, Uni-two and Uni-three. All three training courses were involved at the beginning of

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the study. The study then continued with Uni-one. The students in these groups came from a variety of different backgrounds and cultures, with male and black students in the minority. Recent data collected at the university where Uni-one is housed demonstrates that females and students who do not identify as white are in the majority. (See T1 below). This Higher Education institute, (HEI) is listed as one of the 76% offering staff training on the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, (Equalities and Diversity Initiatives in Higher Education, Coventry University 2004).

Tl General Student Breakdown Uni-one

Ulli-Olle gelleral ulliversity studellt breakdowll 2002 (The identity of this university has been protected)

Male: Female White: Non-white

With a disability: Without }{olne/()verseas Over 25: Under 25 45: 55 % 45: 55 % 4.5: 95.5 % 82: 5.5 (EU), 12.5 (overseas) % 49: 51 %

More than 2, 000 students are aged 40 and above, with 7 over the age of 80

The above table shows a breakdown of ethnic groups within Uni-one, the university that provided a participant group for the primary data in 2002. The figures, which show a greater percentage of non-white students, were reflected in a 50% increase of non-white students who enrolled on the Integrative Counsellor training course that year. The ratio of male to female students was not influenced by the university intake. This was reduced to approximately 13 % male and 87% female.

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Chapter 1 Rationale and Theoretical Context

1.1 Rationale:

During my experience as a clinical manager working with African Caribbean clients, it became clear that the cultural context of counselling was an important factor in therapeutic provision for mental health clients in particular. This knowledge was born out of a small survey that I carried out at the time.

The survey was carried out in the early nineties when experts in the field of mental health such as Burke (1984), Fernando (1989), Kareem (1992), Rack (1982), and Littlewood (1982) were producing literature on the recognition of the various cultural needs of mental health patients in their care. The survey's responses from black counsellors and clients indicated that what was being produced in the literature on black issues was not being transferred into practice. This is true of my recent experience as a counsellor trainer, hence my decision to focus this study specifically on black issues as opposed to the general theme of culture, or the issues of other ethnic groups. Needless to say, the study acts as a model for the exploration of issues pertaining to other minority groups and to both black and white counsellors. (See F 2)

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F2 Overview of Rational & Theoretical Context

Rational

Gap in counsellor

training.

• Need for change in

H.E. & training.

• Equalities, needs of

black clients &

counsellors. • Needs of all counsellors. Methodology • Qualitative. • Multicultural. • Transcultural. Context of research question. • Emancipatory. Philosophical context. • Historical &

sociological. • Psychotherapy & Counselling. Training. Multiculturalism. Previolls studies.

[.

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The Need for Change in Higher Education

The Race Relations Act 1976 (Amended Act 2000) now gives public authorities including higher education, a 'statutory general duty to promote race equality'. (CRE, 2002). Developments in social policy are a necessity for creating frameworks to address power structures that maintain marginalised voices. The Race Relations Act does not use the term 'black issues' but it applies regulations to race issues (equal rights and access irrelevant of colour or creed) which the study indicates constitute a major area of black issues. The 'Act' suggests that as a community of practitioners 'we' are responsible for change in the educational process. In view of this responsibility this document will show how the study identified a gap in this responsibility and enabled and empowered participants to discover the voice of change within their training experience.

I view this gap in the education of counsellors as a symptom of eurocentricism. Others may not view it the same way. Some view eurocentricism as the gap between individualism and collectivism, whilst others view it within its links to colonialism. Contemporary theoretical frameworks of psychotherapy and counselling are becoming more widely influenced by globalisation and the links or splits between the western world and others. Whereas diversity and culture were previously relegated to the realms of anthropology, in Britain we are becoming more aware of diversity as a phenomenon and collective element of our society. In this study the concept of black issues is proposed as a contradiction to eurocentricism.

Psychology as an organised discipline, as taught and practised, ascribes little value to the experiences of black people. They are important only in so much as they reinforce white people's sense of superiority. Out and out eurocentricism permeates assumptions, outlook and instruments of psychology. But it is this psychology that has stormed through the world

to be adopted even by black nations, uncritically and wholesale. Howitt

& Owusu-Bempa (1994,p.127)

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Yes, I raise my hand in ownership of adopting eurocentricism unquestioningly, until I became clearer about my own identity and what happened during the process of colonisation. I now question this context in my work as a trainer. My role as a trainer has led me to work with person centred, psychodynamic and more recently the integrative approach to counselling. I find the integrative approach allows me the freedom to combine elements of traditional therapy with creativity and transcultural ways. Most of all I realise it is the freedom to evolve and transform a space within training which provides the conditions for a new discourse to evolve. This discourse may be viewed as both 'integrative' and 'transcultural' in nature and can be seen as a black empathic approach.

In turning to a more flexible, creative approach I find that art and creative writing are like a raft at times when I feel that I am sinking. My previous invisibility as a trainer was linked to the exclusion of black issues from the curriculum. Now, visibility as a black trainer has taken on a new meaning with this doctoral work. This meaning is derived from implanting my identity, my experiences and theories about black issues into the centre of the training arena and finding out what evolves.

Context of Research Question

Throughout my years as a trainer, students and trainers alike have raised many questions, concerns and experiences about black issues which require understanding and reflection. Many of these questions remain unsolved due to lack of space in the training programme. This predicament has sometimes been due to an over focus on racism and a lack of understanding of the developmental process of individuals who want to explore black issues. For example I have heard white trainees suggest that living in an area where they rarely see black people, or not having black clients excludes them from the dynamics of race and black peoples' experiences. On the other hand some trainees believe that friendships with black people, or being black British absolves them from the conflicts of stereotyping and prejudice that sometimes impact intercultural relationships. These aspects of trainees' personal development may remain un-addressed if they are not exposed to the context of race and black

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Issues during their training. Lack of space for these issues constitutes silence. Tuckwell (2002) asserts her understanding of silence in relation to racism:

There is a silence generally within our profession concerning racism, but I believe also that a silence can too easily develop in the consulting room. It is a dangerous silence for the therapy because it contains too much background noise for it not to infect all other work we try to do. A frequent response by the black patient is to stop and leave therapy, often silently. Another response is not to enter in the first place, which is the loudest silence of all. (P.l38)

I resonated with the situation of silence reported in some initial interviews with experienced practitioners. (See Chapter 2) My own training was fraught with silence: the silence of oppression, misunderstanding and the misguidance of institutional racism marginalized my black experience as a trainee.

Comments such as the above, posed by Tuckwell, which emanate from transcultural literature, seem to place a greater emphasis on deepening the counsellor's relationship with black issues as opposed to silencing. Although transcultural literature embraces diversity and cultural issues, it tends to focus on race issues as opposed to black issues in a general context. This creates negative exposure to black issues. The question remains, how are students trained to respond to what is needed? The study demonstrates that to respond appropriately we first need to understand. The document will demonstrate how the study facilitated a process of understanding and in itself explored how understanding evolved. It will also describe how the knowledge gained was used to develop the products.

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Research Question

How do trainee counsellors In Britain, (from any background) understand their concerns about black issues raised by or about themselves during training or about clients during the therapeutic process?

This document will present the journey and process of my attempt to explore the above questions with trainee counsellors by sharing their concerns. Passages underlined show aspects of the study used in workshops or carried forward into the trainer's booklet. (Product of the study)

In order to communicate, we create shared events, practices, roles, values, myths, rules, beliefs, habits, symbols, illusions and realities. Eleftheriadou (1996, p. 2)

I mentioned earlier about the importance of an emancipatory approach to empower trainees and compliment my ontological position as a transcultural practitioner and as a black woman. In taking hook's stance on this the aim was to integrate a deeper understanding of the experiences of black peoples into counselling practice and theory.

The failure to recognise a critical black presence in the culture and in most scholarship writing on postmodernism compels a black reader , particularly a black female reader , to interrogate her interest in the subject where those who discuss and write about it seem not to know black women exist or even to consider the possibility that we might be somewhere writing or saying something that should be listened to, or producing art that should be seen, heard approached with intellectual seriousness. hooks. (1991a, p.24)

The question of understanding featured highly in the philosophical framework of this study. In my past experience as a counsellor trainer, trainees have proposed many

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unanswered questions and frequently express an urgency to gain clarity and guidance on how to work more effectively with black issues. Questions about 'how do we understand, explore, address and overcome powerful feelings linked to black issues?' have been raised like a mantra over and over again. This is why I believe that qualitative research techniques compliment a more active transcultural approach and an opportunity to facilitate and interact with participants on the topic of black issues. (See F3 below for overview of intentions and achievements).

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F3 Overview of Intentions and Achievements Outcome Question change Finding a voice Impact on training Emerging themes Concerns about

racism and safety.

Objectives Shared concerns. Understanding Evaluation Publication Level 5 descl'iptors Publications J'revious studies E"llert practice Black issues work Knowledge InDuence· Conferences Training courses Literature Curriculum Trainers Pmctice I

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1.2 Theoretical COil text & Literature Review

Such intensive training can sometimes be compared to a kind of colonisation of the mind and I constantly had to battle within myself to keep my head above water, to remind myself at every point who I was and what I was. It was a painful difficult battle not to think what I was told to think, not to be what I had been told to be and not to challenge what I had been told could not be challenged and at the same time not to become alienated from my basic roots. Kareem & Littlewood (1992,

p.3J)

The words ofKareem and Littlewood quoted above, echo the self-understanding that informed my approach to this study. I can't help how I was raised, but I can make conscious my intentions about how I will act in the future. I am committed to challenging the impact of eurocentric teaching, so that counsellor training becomes a holistic culturally contextual, anti-oppressive discipline that addresses black issues and other marginalised experiences. Having said this, a specific intention to directly challenge eurocentricity within training, would defeat the purpose of 'engaging' in re-search; therefore I selected an inclusive philosophy drawn from multicultural research and transcultural knowledge to support this study. This section will trace threads of knowledge drawn from literature and experience that underpin my approach. The knowledge consists of four strands: historical and sociological; psychotherapy and counselling; training; previous studies.

Historical and Sociological

I discovered via a website that in the US the concept of 'black issues' is a term used to identify sociological, psychological and political experiences that impact on the personal development and education of African American students. Since the 20th century post war renaissance, African Americans have continued to build on these social constructs to empower their communities.

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Reason & Bradbury (2001) refer to African American Edmondson Bell's work as a way of taking up the challenge to open up 'the infusion of race into US discourse'

(PA8). They propose that Edmondson Bell supports the observer, who involves the people in a 'transformative dialogue'. (P.56) The passage makes reference to 'the

involved observer'. In this approach the research is shaped by and connected to the

individuals, groups or community being studied. These concepts support the inclusion of a transformation and emancipation process of the training groups in this study.

One of the reasons that I engaged in doctoral research studies was to break the isolation of writing about challenging issues such as those mentioned above. I have mentioned that I was also keen to discover the link between history, black issues and the therapeutic process. One way of sharing my concerns is by engaging with relevant literature. In doing so I found that Denzin's 'Interpretive Interactionism', (1989(a) which embroils components of participatory action research affirmed the important links between history, power, emotion, and knowledge. These are essential elements of research that address equalities issues such as those proposed in the revised 'Race Relations Act', (2002).

Denzin (1989) postulates an understanding of four ways in which history enters research: firstly the unfolding of process over time; secondly, locating process events within the bigger cultural and historical framework that includes power relationships; thirdly, the links between social history and personal history; fourthly, the ways in which the researcher's personal and historical relationships shape the interpretive process. Denzin's theory was particularly useful in understanding the power dynamics between participants and myself in the interactive process.

Power both creates and destroys. It creates new social forms while it destroys existing social structures. Denzin (1989, p.29)

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In this doctoral study I found that breaking down old, oppressive ways of approaching black issues and creating affinnative dialogue have involved a process that includes the exposure of power dynamics. In the study this process was dependant on trainees' understanding of social history, their levels of familiarity with black issues and the dynamics of racism. Understanding concepts of attachment and loss that impact on personal and social relationships are important constructs in power dynamics. For trainee counsellors, opportunities to understand attachment and loss may be within their course curriculum. This is a complex arrangement because although Freud and Jung, for example, developed their theories against a background of war and migration, traditional theories do not contextualise the separation and loss of African and Asian peoples in tenns of culture, community and racism. These theories of loss focus on eurocentric perceptions of childhood or bereavement rather than loss of origin, cultural identity and experiences of migration. Ackbar (1993) suggests:

Social history has been projected as irrelevant' when 'history can become a basis for self-criticism, a basis for self-understanding, and more importantly, the basis for understanding the motives and the psychology of others. ( P.18)

Ackbar's approach points towards a reconciliation of social history and psychology, because social history plays an important role in transcultural counselling. In my experience, training that exposes this history, exposes power dynamics. White participants express a fear of losing their assumed power in the unconscious schema of institutional racism. Black participants experience fears associated with their emancipation from the role of the oppressed. These dynamics are linked to the history of racism and colonialism.

The process of mental liberation is not unlike many of the requirements of physical liberation. Freedom from captivity must be taken not passively requested. It is never willingly given since the captivity has

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been in some way beneficial to the captor, so the captor gives up his captive only reluctantly. As our great Ancestral Saints, Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner, Ida B Wells, Frederick Douglass, Medgar, Evers and many others (now nameless) all found out, the decision to take ones freedom meets with resistance and even mortal danger'. Ackbar (1996, p.39)

Knowledge gained from sociologists, historians and psychologists supported the duality of concerns that needed to be acknowledged and supported during this study.

The precepts of Denzin's approach, 'Interpretive Interactionism' (Denzin, N1989,

p.25) as listed below have been useful in the process of finding meaning from ways in which knowledge and understanding happens in relation to black issues. They have also offered a way of listening to the voices within the study.

The aims of Interpretative Interactionism are:

• A concept free mode of description, (This study was not intended to be concept free, although interpretation of participants , narratives has been avoided).

• Understanding the prose of the world, (1 have listened to individual narratives, yet experiences have been shared in a collective sense).

• Non measured, non controlled, non statistical, non manipulative.

• To capture the core of every human situation, which is novel, conflicting and filled with mUltiple interpretations and meaning.

• It is assumed that the language of ordinary people can be used to explicate their experiences.

• As in the feminist approach, knowledge should be for emancipatory purpose. • The voices of participants should be heard through their interpretive text.

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Psychotherapy and Counselling

Multicultural, intercultural and transcultural psychotherapy and counselling take into account various viewpoints on the way equalities, diversity and oppreSSIOn III

counselling can be approached. I shall present brief examples below.

Multiculturalism

Multiculturalists, Vanoy Adams (1996) and Feltham & Horton (2000) suggest attention should be paid to the many cultural reference points that impact on relationships. Ponterrotto, et. al; (2000) argue that:

Essential elements of multicultural therapy competence are the therapist's awareness of his or her own cultural heritage, world view and the related values, biases and assumptions about human behaviour, and an understanding of the worldview of the culturally different client. (P.25)

It is clear that a lot of attention has been given to addressing gaps in multicultural theory. However, exploration of the experiences of black counsellors and black clients are limited. This problem perpetuates eurocentric dominance.

The authors discuss the dominance of white eurocentric approaches to counselling which go some way to addressing black issues as cultural issues. However black issues can neither be confined to cultural issues nor generalised to concerns about racism. The process of dilution caused by these approaches can be related to issues of any ethnic minority group, but for the purpose of this study I have focussed on black issues. Multicultural issues can be gender related and gay friendly and cover a broad spectrum of experiences. Taking all this into account however, we cannot take for granted that a multicultural therapeutic approach means that trainees understand how to address black issues. Multicultural research runs the risk of being addressed through eurocentric positivist eyes. Morrow et aI, (2001) cited Scheurich and Young's referral to this phenomena as 'Epistemological racism'

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Intercultural and Transcultural Approaches

Trying to make a distinction between intercultural and transcultural paradigms can be like trying to distinguish between psychotherapy and counselling. They are not mutually exclusive, yet the transcultural approach advocates more explicitly the depth of self exploration required to transcend prejudice and work with the cultural inferences of a therapeutic relationship. The points below assist readers to understand the necessary process of engaging within these paradigms.

Interculturalists Kareem & Littlewood (1994) and Thompson & Lago (1982) attempt to deal with this problem by suggesting that we should pay attention to relationships between cultures and within cultural groups. Kareem & Littlewood (1994) suggest that:

Intercultural therapy should never be allowed to become some specialised therapy targeted at black people, but simply therapy that takes into account these issues '. (P.I2)

Transculturalists Eleftheriadou (1994), d' Adenne & Mahtani (1989), and Tuckwell (2002), suggest that we transcend our own cultural reference points whether they are similar or different and experience ourselves empathically within the culture of another person or group. The following quote shows how d' Ardenne & Mahtani (1989) distinguish the transcultural approach.

We have chosen the term 'trans' as opposed to 'cross' or 'inter' cultural counselling because we want to emphasise the active and reciprocal process that is involved. (P'5)

The above authors base their understanding of 'transcultural' on Leininger's reference to 'transcultural caring' Leininger (1985):

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A way of using cultural knowledge and skills creatively to help people live and survive satisfactorily in a 'diverse J and changing world. (P. 5)

Leininger's approach places an emphasis on intentional and active processes in the therapeutic relationship. Of the three cultural approaches discussed above, the transcultural approach offers greater insights and perspectives to actively support this process.

Ideas and examples of using these contexts do not explicitly support trainee counsellors to understand black issues. Research literature refers mainly to a multicultural approach. Social constructionists might therefore deem this study to be tapping into an unconscious component of multiculturalism, that of black issues. I would suggest therefore that my approach to this study links more closely with transcultural perspectives as presented above by d' Ardenne & Mahtani, an approach grounded in a reciprocal process and actively engaging with self-awareness, oppression, racism and what it means to be a black person in Britain. Since research theory that refers to a transcultural approach could not be found, I used my transcultural knowledge to deepen a multicultural approach to the study.

At a conference presented by The British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, (22.5.04) New Zealand counsellors expressed the importance of placing counselling in the cultural context of its Maori communities. South African counsellors considered the impact of the apartheid system and the colour bar on counsellors and clients. US counsellors stated that accreditation of professional counsellors requires evidence of their ability to understand and work with diversity, cultural context and racial oppression. What implications do these global experiences infer for counsellor training in Britain? I would suggest that addressing racism and oppression in ways that develop theory and support therapeutic dialogue on black issues in training is questionable. Feurtes and Gretchen (2001), advocate that the multicultural theories they reviewed indicated:

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A need to translate useful concepts into deliverable techniques for ethnic minority clients. (P. 530)

However there was a lack of suggestion on how to take action on this proposal in practice. Their findings support my reasons for selecting training courses as a field for this study.

Training

Apart from the psychoanalytic input of my own training my approach to black issues in training has been influenced by European writers such as Fanon (1986), Lago & Thompson (1982), and Kareem & Littlewood (1992). Also by African American writers such as Ackbar (1996), Wilson (1993), and hooks (1994). These writers empathically transcend the developmental process of black therapists and clients. In addition I have listened to the voices of African Caribbean and African American writers through their novels and autobiographical experiences. In my former education that negated black experiences, I did not learn about great black civilisations and educators. I learned further submission to white European thinking that negated part of my heritage. Kareem (1992), suggests that:

Psychotherapists who are analytically trained learn to work with and understand the patient's inner world only, and therefore for some there is resistance in dealing with psychological problems that originate in the real (outer) world. However most black people would admit that the most traumatic feature in their personal lives is to be black in a white society. (P.25)

In my early contact as a trainer in higher education, I engaged with counsellor training that had no references to transcultural or black literature on its book lists. I used my own published autobiography and the work of black poets and writers to enhance trainee counsellors' understanding of black issues. So I see introducing a black issues study into counsellor training courses as a continuation and development of my efforts to transform training institutions.

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It follows then that if training of counsellors develops its approach to black issues, then provision for clients will become culturally appropriate, thus affording greater opportunities for counsellors and clients of African and Asian heritage and at the same time assisting white European counsellors to significantly develop their understanding of black issues.

Bell hooks, the African American writer, suggests that we can challenge the way universities can sometimes be set up to hinder the process of emancipation.

'Education as a practice offreedom' hooks, (1994). In my experience as a university counsellor, I have come to understand that most individuals have been hurt at some point during their formal education and their study skills in higher education are often influenced by these hurts. This is where the process of emancipation within this study has become important.

Previous Studies

Lawrence (2003), surveyed counselling students about race and cultural issues on their training. The survey highlighted that white students felt more comfortable on their training than their black counterparts. Also, they all felt that the race and culture of their tutor would affect their training experience. Respondents were consistently saying that:

There was a gap in what could be an opportunity to work through the diversity of race and culture within their counselling training. (P.123)

It is important to find ways that fill the gap noted above, and expand counsellor training and provision that supports the dynamics of change, rather than assume that eurocentric theory may be applied systematically. The reflective stance in this study is designed to challenge these assumptions by broadening dialogue and addressing concepts, customs and attitudes to black issues. To validate my use of the term 'eurocentric' I turned to literature on research and multi-cultural counselling produced by Morrow et aI, (2001).

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Although traditional research methods have assembled a wealth of knowledge within the field of counselling, the "compass" used to guide such knowledge has been a eurocentric paradigm that reflects the perspectives of white middle class males. Stanfield, (1994). Sue, (1999). Sue, Kurasaki & Srinivasan (1999). Intuitively, the multicultural researcher questions the effectiveness of such paradigms when applied to marginalized populations. Padilla & Lindholm (1995); Slife, (1998); Sue et aI, (1999) "How can the worldviews of people of colour be understood when the researchers "compass}J is directed by the polarities of a eurocentric worldview? From the qualitative researcher's view the participants in the study are the researcher's "compass ". The participants direct the nature and direction of the researcher's journey, and meanings are made of the data from the ground up, that is from the lived experiences of the individuals and cultures under investigation. (P.

576)

The above authors speak of the compass being directed by white males. One of the biggest challenges was to self direct my methodology as opposed to fitting into a white eurocentric structuralist approach. However, as a way of structuring this study I chose to draw on and extend elements of qualitative theory that have already been tried and tested. Whilst traditional theories that dominate the teaching of psychotherapy and counselling may have been directed by white males, this is not entirely true of the counselling population that appears to be dominated by white females. Experience tells me that training courses may be more challenged by the minority voices of black people and males. (See Appendix 1. for extended literature review).

Summary

I have presented and engaged with an account of my prior knowledge and literature search. Consideration of sociological, historical and psychological discourse on counsellor training and understanding of black issues has been made. I have observed

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the gaps in multicultural research and counsellor training, and the challenges posed by venturing into such a volatile area of concern. I have drawn on various themes to outline the context of empowerment necessary for this study, and presented examples of previous work in this area. I have argued that qualitative, multicultural research alone did not provide enough pointers to procure this action study. A further step in being clear, specific and focussed on the theme of black issues, yet flexible in the heuristic process was necessary.

In the next chapter I shall present my methodology which will be supported by aspects of multicultural and qualitative research presented above.

A study of black issues in Counsellor training 2002 - 2005

"